


Saved By The Blue Boy

by glitch_b1tch0



Category: CrankGameplays - Fandom, markiplier - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Blankgameplays - Freeform, Comfort, Darkiplier - Freeform, Ethan Nestor - Freeform, F/M, Graphic depictions of violence - Freeform, Markiplier - Freeform, Reader-Insert, Self-Harm, ethan nestor|reader
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:14:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28447482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitch_b1tch0/pseuds/glitch_b1tch0
Summary: Y/N lives in a cabin, secluded in the woods right outside of Cincinnati. Mark and Ethan decide to pay her a surprise visit. Then, His plan can be put into motion - it was all going accordingly.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7





	1. A Surprise Visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Y/N gets a surprise visit from her best friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So, this is my first actual published reader-insert! I hope it's good! btw, reader is female!

The cold floor was all I could feel besides a subtle pain that resided in my head. My eyes opened, and I blearily looked around the room. It took me a moment to realize where I was: My kitchen floor. But.. Why was I on the floor? I took in my surroundings carefully. From where I was, I was right by my fridge. I could see into the living room, the TV playing whatever show I had been watching earlier, but I don’t remember turning it on...

My hearing was muffled for a moment before I heard the overly-joyous tone that was my ringtone. I carefully pushed myself up, my hand landing in a puddle of something as I did so. Once I was fully sat up and more aware of my surroundings, I looked down, seeing my hand covered in blood. That’s when I felt something dripping from my nose, and something sticky running down the side of my face. I could suddenly smell the blood, and the scent seemed ‘;’//  
+-*stronger than it should have been for such a small puddle of it.

I stood up in a bit of a panic and looked around for my phone. After a moment, I saw it sitting on the bar that was in my kitchen, connected to the charger. I wiped my bloody hand on my already-bloody shirt and picked the vibrating box of wires and aluminum. The caller ID read “EEF”, which majorly confused me for a moment before I realized who it was: My best friend Ethan Nestor. I quickly answered the call and put my phone up to my ear.

“H-Hello?” I said quietly. I internally cringed at my own voice, it was raspy and broken. ‘What the hell happened to me?’

“(Y/N)? Is everything okay?” Ethan spoke through the phone. I could hear the worry laced into his voice. I couldn’t help but quietly smack myself for making Ethan worry.

“Yeah, it’s all good. I just woke up from a nap.” I walked over to where I had woken up and looked down at the floor. The blood was still there, and some of it was smeared, more than likely where I was laying down in it and moving around. 

“Okay, well.. Let me know if something’s up, and you know I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Ethan spoke. He lived in L.A. while I lived in a small cabin in the woods in Ohio. I could hear him tapping away on his keyboard at his desk, probably editing. I nodded slightly, even though he couldn’t see it.

“Thanks, Ethan.” I smiled slightly. I could basically hear my best friend smiling. “Anyway, did you need something?” I asked as I began cleaning up the mess.

“Oh! Yes! So, I’m going to be in town with Mark next week, and I was wondering if you wanted to hang out?”

I smiled again and then quickly finished wiping the blood up, and then I made my way upstairs to my room, ready to search for some more clothes to change into. “Of course! Sounds awesome!” I opened my bedroom door and made my way into my room, rummaging through my closet to find a suitable outfit to put on for the frigid temperatures outside.

“Great! I’ll see you soon! Maybe we can even record some videos together!” Ethan sounded excited.

“Okay! I have to go now, though. I’ll talk to you later, Ethan!” I let Ethan say bye before I hung up. I smiled at the thought of seeing two of my best friends. I then went into the bathroom, took my clothes off, then stepped into the shower, turning on the water. It was ice cold at first, but it definitely finished waking me up from whatever dazed state I was in, but the water soon turned warm and relaxing. As I was showering, there was a stinging pain on my forehead as the warm water hit it.

I quickly finished my shower and stepped out after turning the water off. I then remembered I had some blood on my face, so I wiped the steam off of the mirror to see if it all had washed off in the warm water. 

My eyes widened slightly as I noticed a gash right above my left eyebrow. It had already begun to scab over, but it looked like it was still bleeding a tiny bit. There was a small scratch on my nose as well, but it was completely scabbed over and wasn’t bleeding. I sighed quietly.

“I wonder if this happened when I supposedly passed out earlier..?” I said to myself. I came to the conclusion that, maybe I had just passed out from the lack of nutrition since I hadn’t eaten much within the last month or so. I had been way too busy to make much time for myself. Of course, practically starving myself was nowhere near intentional.

I stopped my train of thought before I began to blame myself for not eating, when my boss was making me run here and there practically all day, every day for the last month. Whenever I would get home, I was just too exhausted to eat anything more than a few saltine crackers that were hidden away in my pantry.

I walked out of the bathroom and into my room, which was freezing for some reason. I sighed and walked over to my closet, picking out an outfit: A pair of gray, high-waisted jeans and a white, fluffy sweater tucked into it, along with a brown leather belt and some brown knee-high boots. After getting dressed, I grabbed a green denim jacket and threw it on over my sweater.

I decided to head out and do some shopping since it was nearing Christmas. So, I grabbed my light blue backpack that held all of the things I took with me when I went out: My car keys, my wallet, a sketchbook and a couple of notebooks and a Korean textbook, since I was learning Korean. (Mark was proud when I told him I was learning the language.)

As soon as I stepped outside, I immediately felt like my entire body would freeze in seconds, so I ran as fast as I could down the slippery stairs that lead down from my door to my driveway. I may have slipped and fallen down the last 3 or 4 stairs (yes, there’s a lot of stairs outside my house, so what?). I groaned and sat myself on the bottom step, moving my feet around to make sure I was okay. Once I was sure I didn’t break anything, I stood up and carefully made my way to my car - an old 2002 Toyota Camry. I turned the car on and basked in the warmth of the heating before pulling out of the long driveway and onto the main road. 

5 hours later - yes, 5 hours. What can i say? I love shopping - I returned home. Everything was fine until I got out of the woods surrounding my driveway and saw a new car sitting in my driveway. It was a grey Dodge Hellcat. ‘Do I know anyone with that kind of car..? Hmm.. I don’t think so…’ There were people sitting in the car. I pulled in behind it and turned my car off. My heart was racing as I reached into the glove box of my car and pulled out a pocket knife.

I stepped out of my car and gently closed the door behind me, walking up to the drivers side of the Hellcat. I knocked on the tinted window, the knife open and ready in my other hand. The window rolled down to reveal one of my best friends, Mark Fischbach. “Hey!” He said happily. I sighed, closed my knife, and slapped his arm as hard as I could once he stepped out of the car.

“Fuck you, Mark! You scared the hell outta me!” I said, placing a hand on my chest, feeling my racing heart. Mark laughed and rubbed his arm where I slapped him. “Sorry, (Y/N). I didn’t think it would scare you that much.”

I gave a smile, and then a confused look came over my face. “Wait- I thought you weren’t supposed to be in until next week?” I asked.

“Well,” Mark began and rubbed the back of his neck slightly. “We kinda wanted to surprise you. Oh! And sorry that we didn’t tell you about the new car. It’s my brothers, and he’s letting us borrow it for the next month while we’re here.”

My eyes widened. “A- A month?!” I nearly shouted, but Mark covered my mouth once I finished speaking.

He shushed me, and then removed his hand. I looked up at him, confused. He just opened the back door of the car, revealing a sleeping Ethan laying down on the seat with a fluffy black blanket wrapped around him, and his backpack laying under his head as a pillow. I gave a small smile, thinking of how adorable he looked when he slept. I then looked back up at Mark, mouthing, “He’s so cute!” Mark mouthed back, “I know, right?!” We both smiled and giggled a bit. I then pulled my phone out and took a quick picture of Ethan as he slept.

I sighed quietly, still smiling. “So. who’s gonna be the one to wake him up?” 

Mark and I looked at each other, staring.

We both deadpanned. 

Then we both pointed at each other and said, “You do it!” Neither one of us wanted to disturb the cuteness that is Ethan Nestor cuddling into a blanket.

I sighed and gave in, pushing Mark aside. I kneeled down and gently nudged Ethan’s shoulder. He groaned and curled into the blanket. I internally squealed. “Ethan, wake up.” I said quietly, but loud enough to hopefully drag him out of sleep at least a bit.

After another minute or so of coaxing him to wake up and him responding with cute little groans and tiredly using his hands - which were covered by the blanket still - to push me away, he finally opened his eyes. He immediately looked up and gave me a small, tired smile. He sat up and rubbed his arms, the frigid cold seeming to get to him a bit as the blanket was removed from his bare arms. He quickly grabbed his jacket from the floor of the car and slid it on over his pale skin.

“Good morning, Sleeping Beauty.” Mark teased from behind me. Ethan gave Mark a glare and carefully got out of the car. 

I gave Ethan a small smile once he looked over at me. “Hi, Ethan.” He smiled back. “Hey, (Y/N)!” He came over and gave me a hug, holding me tightly for a moment before stepping back. We just kinda stared and smiled at each other, until I began shivering.

“Let’s go inside.” Mark said, heading up the stairs to my front door. 

“Oh! I have stuff in my car that I need to get.” I said, practically sliding along the icy driveway back to my car. “I’ll help you!” Ethan called from behind me and did the same. I heard Mark laugh quietly as he stood by the door, waiting for us.

After I opened the trunk, Ethan helped me grab the bags of stuff I had gotten, though I told him not to look in them. He managed to grab most of the bags, much to my disapproval, and began heading up the stairs to the front door, where Mark was waiting patiently. I smiled at him as he walked up the stairs and then closed my trunk, quickly following behind him.

Mark took the bags I had, allowing me to unlock the door. As soon as it was unlocked, the three of us made our way inside. I immediately sat down on the couch as the guys sat the bags down in the kitchen. I practically melted into the couch as I began taking my jacket and shoes off. After that, I laid down on the couch and took the soft blanket that was draped over the back of it, and wrapped it around myself, hoping to steal some of its warmth.

Knowing that Mark and Ethan were going to be staying with me made me excited, I was seeing my two best friends for the first time in forever. I hadn’t seen them for a good year, maybe almost two? I couldn’t remember just how long it had been since I had seen them, but I knew it had been a while.

As I thought, I stared over at the TV screen, which was still playing something completely random from that morning. I looked out the large glass wall that separated us from the cold outside. The sun had begun to set, casting an orange glow over the snow and into the living room. I could hear Mark and Ethan chatting away in the kitchen about some random new game that was coming out soon. I couldn’t really tell what it was about, cause I wasn’t paying that much attention. I did catch one thing, though: “Mark.. We have to make sure you can still control it.” Ethan’s worried voice caught my attention for just a moment, before falling out of my hearing range.

After a few minutes of laying there, blankly staring out the window at the gorgeous sunset that I had the pleasure of seeing every night, I sat up and sighed quietly. I stood up and walked into the kitchen where Mark and Ethan were still talking, but now quieter than before. They both seemed kinda off, but I brushed it off as them being tired from the flight and having to deal with the airport and a lot of people.

“Hey,” I said with a small smile as I walked past them to get to my fridge. 

“You done with your little cat-nap now, (Y/N)?” Mark teasingly asked. I sent him a glare and flipped him off. Ethan snickered in the background as I put my hand down and went back to opening the fridge. Mark didn’t tease me for a bit after that as he glared dejectedly at the ground beneath him.

“What are you two talkin’ about in here?” I asked as I pulled out my pitcher of raspberry iced tea. I handed Mark and Ethan each a bottle of water, knowing that they would ask for one.

“Nothing specific, just random things.” Ethan responded quickly. I looked over at him with a slightly concerned look, but he seemed fine so I pushed that thought back. “Videos ideas and such.” I nodded slightly as I grabbed an old mason jar out of my cabinet and put some ice in it. As I poured some of the tea into the now ice-filled glass, I glanced over at the two men. 

Mark looked slightly nervous, exhausted, while Ethan just looked different. Paler, maybe? I didn’t know what was different about him, but something just overall seemed off about the both of them. I decided I would bring it up to them later.

“Well, anyway, what do you guys want for dinner? We can go out somewhere, order something and have it sent here, or just find something to make. It’s up to you guys.” I looked back down as I spoke, making sure I didn’t spill tea everywhere. Mark and Ethan turned to look at each other as I put the tea back in the fridge.

Ethan just shrugged. “Do you wanna go out? I think it would be nice instead of sitting around here. It’s only..” He trails off for a moment and looks down at his phone. “It’s only 4:30, it’s too early for bed, even though we’ve been up since 4 this morning, which was 7 here, right?” Ethan turned to me and asked. I nodded.

“So, you want to go out. What about you, Mark?” I looked over to Mark, who was looking down at the counter. “Mark?” I said his name again, this time a bit louder, hoping to catch his attention. 

His head shot up and he looked over at us. “Sorry, I spaced out for a second. What is it?” 

“You okay, man?” Ethan asked him. Mark nodded. “Yeah, I-I’m fine. Just a bit tired.”

“Well, anyway, we were wondering if you wanted to go out to dinner or stay home?” I asked, looking away as I pulled out my phone to look up places we could go for dinner. 

“Yeah, sure. Let’s go out.” I looked over as Mark spoke to see him smiling a bit, which made me smile as well. “But, you and Ethan have to plan where we’re going.”

Ethan sent finger-guns at Mark, saying, “Alrighty,” and paused for a moment to turn to me and finished his sentence, “Let’s find a place to get some grub.”


	2. A Moment She'll Never Remember.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark, Ethan and (Y/N) all go out for dinner, but when they return home, they get a bit of a surprise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! Chapter 2!  
> I have a really bad habit of posting things on the 31st,  
> anyway! I hope you enjoy!

Ethan and I spent about 45 minutes searching for a restaurant we would all like to go to. We settled on a Chili’s that was about an hour away. It was the closest sit-in restaurant to my cabin. I sent Ethan to get Mark, who had gone upstairs to start unpacking his stuff in his room, while I went to go get my keys, jacket and bag. 

A few minutes later, Ethan returned with Mark. They both smiled at me, and I smiled back. The two got their jackets on and we headed out. Ethan offered to drive, so I handed him my keys after locking my door, and the three of us headed down to my car. I sat in the passenger seat next to Ethan, while Mark sat in the back. I pulled up the directions on my phone, and then put in a random CD to listen to. 

The entire way to the restaurant, the three of us talked about how our lives have been. Mark and Ethan told me what they had been up to back in L.A., how their work was going. I told them all about what was going on with me, leaving out a few personal parts dealing with relationships and family things. 

There are many reasons I left those things out: My family disowned me because of my job as an artist when they wanted me to be a lawyer, and my boyfriend breaking up with me on my birthday, after two years of cheating on me with a girl named Irene. That’s all I knew about, her name. 

As Mark and Ethan began talking about new video ideas they had, I leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes, smiling a bit at the chatter, their laughter, the music, and the warmth from the heater blasting in my face. 

I guess I fell asleep, because what felt like just seconds later, I felt someone shaking me. It startled me awake, so my eyes shot open and I jumped a bit in my seat, my heart beating wildly. 

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, (Y/N), it’s just me.” A voice next to me said, along with a hand being placed on mine. I looked to my left and saw Ethan, still sitting in the driver’s seat. He gave me a small smile once I looked over. I gave a small sigh of relief. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” Ethan said, gently rubbing my knuckles with his thumb. 

“It’s okay.” I said, stretching out a bit. I looked around, seeing we were parked in the parking lot of the Chili’s we were going to go to. I didn’t see Mark in the car. “Where’s Mark?” I asked, looking to the backseat. 

“He went inside to make sure there was room for the three of us. He left me to wake you up.” Ethan said, rubbing the back of his neck slightly. He let out a quiet chuckle. “I didn’t want to scare you, so I tried to get him to stay cause I knew he could probably wake you up without scaring you, but he said no.” 

I smiled a bit. “It’s okay, Ethan.” I said, looking back at him. “Let’s just wait for Mark then, I’m sure it won’t take long.” 

I was right: After a few minutes of Ethan and I rambling on about random things, the topic changing every 30 seconds or so, Mark came back out of the restaurant. He opened my door and looked in at the two of us. 

“Let’s roll, gang!” He yelled and then grabbed my arm, practically dragging me out of the car. 

“Woah!” I said as I felt Mark basically pick me up. He then placed my feet gently on the ground. I glared up at him, hitting his arm as hard as I could. Mark let out a pained noise and rubbed his arm. I gave a small smirk and then turned to shut the car door. 

Ethan walked up next to Mark and I afterwards and we all went into the restaurant together. 

A moment after walking in, we were seated at a booth close to the bar. I slid into the seat, Ethan sitting next to me and Mark sitting across from us. I smiled at the two, they smiled back. As we sat and waited, we all talked casually and played on our phones. Once our food came, we dug in and chatted happily. Eventually, we finished and paid for our food, leaving and heading back to my house. I drove this time since Ethan was tired. 

As I drove, I would steal glances over at him every no and then. He was smiling and laughing, and I loved it – I found it quite adorable. Eventually, the car grew silent as the sky grew darker. I looked over at Ethan once more, seeing him sleeping peacefully in the passenger seat. Mark was sitting in the back staring out the window. 

“So, how’d you manage to find such a nice house anyway?” Mark asked, breaking the silence. 

I looked back at him in the rearview mirror and gave a quiet sigh. “I sold a lot of my old stuff and worked my ass off for four years to get it. If I hadn’t gotten a scholarship to college right out of high school, I wouldn’t have been able to buy it.” I looked back at the road. 

Mark let out a small groan of acknowledgment. “Makes sense. I’m proud of you though, (Y/N).” I saw him give a small smile. “I wouldn’t have had as much determination as you did, so I’m glad you’ve managed to get this house, and be happy there.” 

I smiled back at him. “It’s pretty nice. It’s kinda sad living there alone, but I mean..” I paused for a moment and let out a quiet sigh. “It is nice, really, but it gets lonely. Both of my parents left the country for good, said they were never coming back here, and all of my friends have moved out of the state, same with my siblings.” I shrugged a bit. “But hey, it’s all mine, and that’s exactly what I wanted.” 

“That’s good, kid. Again, I’m proud of you.” Mark said. 

We fell silent after that. The only things to be heard was the sound of the rain starting to hit the windshield, and the sounds of cars as they sped by. I began to grow tired, but kept myself awake since I was driving. I looked at the clock in the car and saw it was only 8:38, too early for bed. But today was a busy day. 

I looked back at Mark for a moment, to see if he was falling asleep as well. I saw him silently talking to himself with a weird glint in his eyes. He must’ve caught on that I was looking at him, because he looked directly into my eyes through the mirror, and I looked back to the road in front of me. 

About 20 minutes later, we arrived back to my house, it was a little after 9. We drove up the long driveway and I parked, turning the car off. I looked over at Ethan, who was still sleeping. I smiled a bit unconsciously and gently shook him awake. It took a minute, but he was soon sitting up and rubbing his eyes as he cuddled into his jacket for warmth. 

“Ethan, it’s time to go inside, we’re back home now.” I said quietly, moving some of his hair out of his face – a habit of mine. 

He gave a tired nod and unbuckled his seatbelt and opened his door, getting out of the car and stepping into the frigid air. Mark and I did the same. 

I walked up to my front door, carefully traversing the stairs in attempt to not fall down them. Once I reached the door, I used my key to unlock it, but found it already unlocked. My brows furrowed a bit, perplexed. 

“Hey Mark, we locked the door when we left, right?” I asked, looking back at him. He nodded and replied, “Yeah, I think so, why?” 

“It’s unlocked.” I said, slowly turning the knob and opening the door. I walked inside and turned the light on, not seeing anything out of place. I took my jacket of and let it fall to the floor before running up the stairs to make sure nothing was stolen or broken. 

As I stood on the top step, I could hear Mark and Ethan talking quietly downstairs. I walked down the hall, the floor creaking like it usually did, and then I reached my room. The door was open, and I couldn’t remember if I left it open or not. I walked inside and was immediately hit with a wave of nausea. 

The room around me began to spin, and there was a sharp pain behind my eyes. I groaned slightly and moved dizzily towards the light switch, but my knees buckled before I could, sending me to the ground. I sat there on my knees, trying to fight away the nausea, but my vision was beginning to go all blurry. Then there was a ringing in my ears. 

I was so terribly confused as to what was happening, but then I heard the distant sound of my bedroom door closing followed by heavy footsteps and a dark chuckle. I closed my eyes as I felt a presence behind me. Whoever it was pushed my body to the floor roughly, and the last thing I heard was the sound of whispers and a very, VERY distant sound of yelling coming from the hallway, and then someone banging on my door. 

And then.. 

Nothing.


	3. The First Attempt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW// Near-death, drowning  
> Proceed with caution!
> 
> Imma be honest, this chapter was fun to write. I don't know why I enjoy writing these sorts of things, but I do for some reason.  
> Anyway, enjoy the angst ;)

I woke up in my bed, my warm comforter carefully placed over top of me. I yawned and rubbed my eyes as I sat up on the soft mattress. The memories from last night were fuzzy and I couldn’t pick out what had happened. All I knew is that my head was pounding. 

I lay back down with a groan, pulling my blankets over my head as light streamed through the windows. A soft knock at my door made me jolt back up. The door opened a bit to reveal a worried looking Ethan. 

“Good morning,” He said with a small smile as he opened the door fully. I waved to him as he walked in. He was carrying a plate of food and sat it down on my nightstand. He sat next to me. 

“How are you feeling?” He asked. 

I shrugged. “Head hurts a lot.” I said quietly. “What happened last night, by the way?” I asked as I looked over at the plate of food. It was filled with baby pancakes and some scrambled eggs. 

“You um…” He trailed off for a moment. “You were really tired and came up to your room and then passed out on the floor.” He said. Though he sounded like he was making up a story, but I didn’t pay much attention to that. “Also that food is yours, I made it for you.” 

I gave him a small smile and leaned my head on his shoulder. “Thanks Ethan.” 

He smiled back and wrapped his arm around my side. “You’re welcome, (Y/N).” 

We sat like that for a few minutes until Ethan decided to go back downstairs while I ate and got ready. He said he wanted me to show him around the woods today, so I agreed, knowing the woods like the back of my hand. 

Once Ethan left, he closed my door gently. I ate my food while scrolling through Instagram on my phone, and once I was finished with my food, I began to get ready. 

I stood from my bed and went over to my closet, searching for some warm clothes to wear since there was still snow on the ground outside. I settled on a pastel pink and blue turtle-neck sweater and a pair of light blue jeans; along with a pair of black, knee-high combat boots and some warm, fluffy socks. After getting dressed, I made my way downstairs, making sure the floor didn’t creak since I wanted to scare Mark and Ethan a bit. However, as I was halfway down the stairs, I heard them talking in hushed voices. It was just barely loud enough for me to hear. 

Mark’s was the first voice I heard, saying, “We can’t let her know he’s here... As soon as she finds out, it’s game over.” 

Ethan chimed in a second later. “How did he even...” He paused with a sigh. “How is he here?” 

I could pretty much hear Mark shrug. “I have no idea! We need to stay quiet about this though. She can’t know...” 

A few moments of silence followed and I made my way down the stairs, my footsteps louder now so they knew I was coming down. Once I reached the bottom, I looked over at them. They were standing next to each other, looking out the glass wall facing out to the woods. They turned to look at me after a second, and smiled at me. Ethan looked excited and Mark just looked... Well, Mark. 

I let out a quiet chuckle and looked at Ethan. “Ready to go?” I asked. He nodded excitedly and ran to grab his coat from the rack by the door. I took that moment to walk over to the window where they were standing. I looked up at Mark. “You wanna go with us?” I asked him. 

He shook his head with a smile. “Nah, I’m good. It was Ethan’s idea for you two to go anyway. I think I’m just gonna chill here and watch YouTube, or make a video since I brought my camera.” 

I nodded and smiled at him. “Okay! If you change your mind, we’ll come back and get you.” 

As soon as I finished talking, Ethan returned with his coat haphazardly buttoned. I mentally face-palmed and walked over to him. “God you’re like a kid.” I said sarcastically. “You need to make sure this is buttoned properly, or else you’ll get cold!” I scolded him a bit. 

He chuckled and looked down at me, patting my head slightly. “Okay, mom.” He said. I looked up at him with a glare and smacked his arm. “Call me ‘Mom’ again and you can do this yourself.” I spoke. He put his hands up defensively and I continued to button his jacket up. Once I was done, I backed away from him with a small smile. “If you’re ready now, let’s go!” I said, dragging Ethan along with me towards the door. 

We went outside and walked through the cold snow to the tree-line. I looked deep into the familiar woods, excited to walk through them in the winter. It was full of evergreen trees, the ones that stay green the entire year no matter the temperature. 

We were silent for a bit as we walked into the woods, admiring the beauty of the winter wind, the snow. Finally breaking the silence, Ethan spoke. “It’s really pretty out here.” I smiled and nodded. “It really is.” I replied. He wrapped his arm around me shoulders, and I wrapped mine around his waist. We just walked like that for a bit, giggling and laughing like small children when we would trip over branches hidden beneath the snow. 

We eventually came across a clearing that had a lake in the center of it. The lake was completely frozen over. I gently removed myself from Ethan’s side and walked out onto the ice. “(Y/N), be careful!” Ethan said from his spot, worry and fear evident in his voice. 

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry!” I turned to him. I had a huge smile in my face, happy to be on top of the slippery ice. It just gave me a rush of adrenaline for some reason, and that feeling was sometimes addicting to me. I skated around on the ice, spinning around as I acted like I was a professional ice-skater. I was having the time of my life until I heard a small crack. 

At first, I brushed it off as a branch in the distance snapping off due to the weight of the snow. A few minutes later the same thing happened, but it was louder, and I felt it. I stopped what I was doing and stood there for a moment. Ethan was yelling for me to get off of the ice, but I was so far out, standing directly in the center of the lake. I looked around in a panic as I heard the ice crack loudly. It shifted, sending me falling to the ground. In the distance, I heard a dark chuckle which slowly sounded like it was becoming more maniacal, but then it stopped and the ice finally broke, sending me crashing into the freezing cold water. 

The cold sent my body into shock. I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. The only thing I could do was sink further and further down while I watched the ice continue to crack and fall into the water above me. I heard Ethan’s muffled voice above the water, but it felt like I was so far down, making me think he couldn’t get to me in time. 

The voice, the one that had the dark chuckle right before the ice cracked, was back.. But it was in my head. “Oh, my dear... Look what’s happened to you...” I felt a bit of feeling come back to my body, causing me to try and move. I could, finally. I attempted to flail my arms, trying to swim back up. There was a fire in my lungs as they burned for air. I saw a figure above me dive into the water: Ethan... I reached out to him as he got closer to me. 

“NO!” The voice shouted and I felt something grab hold of me, quickly pulling me down. I tried to let out a scream, but that failed and my lungs began to fill with icy water. My vision began fading and I could feel every ounce of strength I had slip away, along with whatever warmth was left in my body. The last thing I saw was Ethan’s panicked expression as he swam faster to get to me. But I somehow heard the voice again. 

“This isn’t over yet...” 

Then silence. 

((Ethan’s POV)) //Gasp, a change in POV// 

I was yelling for (Y/N) to get off the ice, and I saw her look around in fear. Suddenly, I heard a familiar, dark chuckle ring through the air. My eyes widened. “No.. He can’t be.. Not now!” Then the ice cracked, causing the girl in the center to fall through into the water. “(Y/N)!!!” I shouted for her. My body was frozen in place, I couldn’t move to go help her. It was almost like some invisible force was keeping me where I was. 

I eventually broke from it and ran out onto the ice, diving into the freezing water. I saw her reach up to me, her eyes showing how much fear was hidden inside her. I reached out to her but saw her being pulled down by a figure I could barely make out through the icy water, but I knew exactly who it was. I realized how far down we were and my lungs started to burn from the lack of oxygen. (Y/N)’s eyes closed, and I could see her skin growing pail though it was dark under the water. I began to panic even more. However, the figure disappeared and I was finally able to grab (Y/N). 

I quickly grabbed onto her hand and began to drag her up to the surface. After what felt like hours of trying to pull us both up, I finally reached the surface of the lake and held (Y/N) above the surface with me. I dragged her over to the shore and laid her down. Her eyes were closed and it looked like she wasn’t breathing. In my moment of panic, I had no idea what to do other than yell out for help, and that’s exactly what I did for a good minute until I realized I needed to help her. 

Knowing some things from my high school health class, I started to try CPR. After roughly 5 minutes of chest compressions and trying to get my best friend – the girl I was in love with – to breathe again, I nearly gave up. Then her cold, lifeless body began twitching and convulsing as she coughed up water. A wave of relief flooded through me as I turned her over on her side, helping her to get the water out of her lungs instead of inhaling it again. 

After that, she was out again. I picked her up and began to carry her back to her house as quickly as I could. As I walked, the cold finally caught up to me. I felt my clothes freezing because of the frigid temperatures. My whole body was shaking as I practically ran through the forest, trying to find my way back to the clearing where (Y/N)’s house was. 

After what felt like hours of running, I finally found it. I ran up to the door of the cabin and opened the door, running inside. Mark was sitting on the couch watching TV when I ran in. He looked over at us and his eyes immediately widened. 

“What the fuck happened?!” Mark asked, panic laced into his voice as he sprung up to help me. 

“Mark, He’s here.. And h-he..” I tried to continue, but I was too cold and too tired to do so, so Mark cut me off. 

“He tried to, didn’t he?” He asked, and I shakily nodded. My face was numb so I couldn’t feel the tears that were sliding down my frozen cheeks. 

Mark took (Y/N) from my arms and told me to go take a warm shower and then take a nap. I nodded and went to do so. While I was in the shower, I thought about the voice. I knew It was Dark, and I knew he had tried to talk to (Y/N). The thing about Dark though, is he gets whatever he wants. What is wants, however, is our best friend dead. 

I got lost in my thoughts for nearly an hour before a knock on the bathroom door snapped me out of my thoughts. I quickly turned the water off and grabbed a towel, wrapping it around my waist and heading over to the door. I opened to reveal a worried Mark. 

“What’s up?” I said, brushing a hand through my wet hair. 

“I got (Y/N) changed into some warm clothes and put her in bed with a bunch of blankets, and a heater I found in her storage room. When she wakes up, we need to tell her.” Mark said, leaning against the doorway to the bathroom, sighing quietly. He looked down at the ground and you could tell he was fighting with something inside of him that was threatening to come out. He was fighting with Dark, and I could tell by the way his eyes flickered between his normal brown to a much deeper colour that was nearly black. 

Mark shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. “When you get dressed, I want you to go sit with (Y/N), make sure she’s okay.. I don’t trust myself to be alone with her right now.” He said. I nodded and then he walked off. I closed the door and got dressed into a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie. 

I walked out of the bathroom and went to (Y/N)’s room. I opened the door to see her peacefully sleeping on her bed. She still looked like she was really cold, though. I smiled a bit, just happy to know that she was alive and breathing.


End file.
